• Not that you need an excuse to shop, but Mooshoes is celebrating its 10th anniversary this Saturday, Dec. 3, with a 15% discount on all in-store purchases, plus beverages and snacks from Blossom du Jour and Dun-Well Doughnuts.
• Veg Blog has released the third installment of its vegan business profile series, this time featuring cookbook publisher Heritage Press.
• On Wednesday, Dec. 7, head over to Pianos on the Lower East Side for some Freerange Nonfiction and listen while Hannah Tinti, Alison Espach and Alison Smith read from their animal-related books. The event’s $8 cover will directly benefit Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. For more information on this and other happenings in New York City, check out our Events Calendar.
• Speaking of farmed animals, Mercy for Animals has uncovered yet more abuse, this time by Sparboe Egg Farms, the supplier of McDonald’s eggs.
• In other atrocities, the USDA released its 2010 Dairy Checkoff Report, and the results are, well, atrocious: In 2009, $108 million was spent promoting milk, while $283 million was used to push dairy products like cheese. Is this really how we want our tax money spent?
• On a lighter note: Sending out holiday cards? Be sure to order a book of PETA’s stamps featuring veggie celebs, now through January. The stamps, which can be purchased online, are available as of today and feature famous faces such as Woody Harrelson, Chrissie Hynde, Bob Barker and Morrissey, plus historical notables including da Vinci, Tolstoy and Pythagoras. Celebs aren’t always the most consistent carrot eaters, but they do help expose the mainstream to the cause.
• Maybe PETA will consider dedicating a stamp to five-year veghead Jessica Chastain. She’s not the only vegan to make people think the chicken she was chomping was “real.”
• For the young compassionate people in your life: The Vegetarian Resource Group is giving away two $5,000 college scholarships to vegetarian high schoolers graduating in the spring of 2012. If you know a senior who lives and promotes the veg lifestyle, make sure he or she applies by Feb. 20.
• The Clash’s Paul Simonon was arrested earlier this year while working undercover as a vegetarian cook for Greenpeace. He might not have been a vegan pirate cook fighting whalers, but protesting against Artic oil offenders gets a thumbs-up too.
• Jane Brody wrote about vegans’ favorite vitamin in The New York Times: Vitamin B12 Deficiency Can Cause Symptoms That Mimic Aging.
• Arms dealer Viktor Bout, the closest thing to a real-life James Bond villain, is demanding vegan meals in jail.
• Last, I’m sad to say that Marti Kheel has died. I had the privilege of hearing the ecofeminist and the author of Nature Ethics speak a few years ago, and her message was inspiring. RIP, Marti.

• A screening of Forks Over Knives convinced Ozzy Osbourne to go vegan in an effort to stay healthy. Maybe he can take cooking classes with this guy.
• Same thing happened to Russell Brand after seeing the film. Meanwhile, over at Smith, students were in an uproar over rumors that the school was going completely vegetarian and locavore. Like that’s a bad thing?
• Famous veggie Paul McCartney released his first vegetarian cookbook this week, The Meat-Free Monday Cookbook. And on the other side of the Channel, the French government has said Non! to vegetarian meals in schools. What the foudre?
• Chrissie Hynde’s Akron restaurant, VegiTerranean, might be closing, but the singer is set to open up a new vegan eatery in LA with Ellen and Portia.
• Don’t throw meatballs at vegan actress Lea Michele if you don’t want to get kicked off the set of Glee. Well, unless they’re these.
• I don’t know about you, but I don’t get out to Jersey much. Which is why I’m thrilled the Cinnamon Snail Truck is heading to Manhattan and Brooklyn starting in mid-November.

This is one of Supervegan’s posts for Vegan MoFo 2011.

Tree Art by Eva P.

PATH (People Protecting Animals and Their Habitats) has organized a powerful yet simple project for Earth Day 2011. The group’s One Kid, One Tree, One World Earth Day project provides children in six countries the opportunity to plant trees and environmental education during the week of Earth Day. Jewish and Arab students will plant trees together in Israel. Students in South Africa will plant fruit trees to provide their community with healthy, fresh food.

This project empowers and educates kids, heals the planet, and builds community. What’s not to love? Visit their website and donate $2 for a student to plant a tree! If you’ve got extra cash, enter their charity auction by March 30 to win vegan swag donated by Vaute Couture, Rory Freedman, Mary & Peter Max, Olsen Haus, Frey Vineyards, Cri de Coeur, Candle 79 Restaurant, Jivamukti Yoga School, and others.

“This is the book I wish I had had to give the meat-eaters in my life so they would understand me, and how they and I could have such a different perspective on the same issue.” This statement from Melanie Joy about her new book, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism, might seem a little forward, but she’s right.

Before you roll your eyes and shrug carnism off as another “ism,” let Melanie explain it to you, which she does so eloquently in the interview below.

I will tell you that almost ten years ago, while I was editor of Satya Magazine, Melanie Joy submitted an article introducing the concept of carnism. She was working on her Ph.D. in psychology at the time and it was a little earnest and ambitious. Still, the editorial staff was intrigued and persuaded by her argument and we published it. I really wasn’t sure where the idea would go from there. Back then, she was arguing to restructure language. Now she’s talking about transforming our culture. And, again, she’s right.

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows is an elegantly-written description of why people eat meat. The argument is subtle but her writing is very approachable, with a friendly tone and low on the use of academic jargon. For me, it’s the most thought-provoking book about how animals are perceived culturally since The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol Adams (which had a big influence on me). I will leave it at that and let Melanie take it from here…

SV: Have you had any really surprising responses to your book so far?
MJ: Yes. I’ve been on a couple of radio shows in the Southwest–”cattle country”–and the reception has been surprisingly positive. Carnists and hunters have called in saying they agree with the precedent of the book. They care about animals too and are against factory farms. A lot of mainstream meat-eating readers have responded positively.

Why DO we love dogs, eat pigs, and wear cows?
Because the invisible system that I call “carnism” conditions us to love certain animals and eat others. Carnism teaches us not to feel when it comes to the animals we consume. Our natural way of responding to other animals appears to be based on empathy. One way we can see that: meat-eating societies around the world eat only a handful of species and find the idea of eating others disgusting. This is because carnism blocks our awareness and empathy when it comes to the species we have deemed edible.

Who is the intended audience for Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows?
I wrote it for vegans and vegetarians as well as for meat-eaters. I wrote it to help vegans feel more grounded and empowered in their choices. To have words to put into some things that they have known intuitively but haven’t necessarily articulated, and also to help vegans understand the system they are working to transform.

Carnism has a very specific structure. Carnistic mentality doesn’t have to be a mystery. So if vegans understand how the system works–socially and psychologically–they’re in a much better position than if they were fighting against an invisible entity. I also wanted to help vegans feel more understanding for the carnists in their lives. Activists often lose important relationships after becoming vegan. Some readers have expressed relief to know that carnists are not monsters, to be reminded that we weren’t all born vegan.

I wrote it for carnists because I wanted to have a book that spoke to meat-eaters and wasn’t just about the reality of meat production (there are plenty out there). I wanted to invite meat-eaters into the conversation, to explain why they do eat meat and not simply why they shouldn’t eat meat. This is the book I wish I had had to give the meat-eaters in my life so they would understand me, and how they and I could have such a different perspective on the same issue.

Why do you think we need another ism?
Carnism is a subideology of speciesism, just as anti-Semitism, for example, is a subideology of racism. It’s important to name and understand specific ideologies because even though they stem from a broader ideology, they have some distinct features that should be understood and addressed directly.

For longtime vegans, daily life in a carnist world can be extremely stressful, leading to frustration, misanthropy, sometimes depression and anxiety–for some, sometimes even violence. Do you have any suggestions for vegans who live in a world that, as you put it, offends “their deepest sensibilities” and how to deal with it?
One thing that’s really important–and it’s a reason why I wrote the book–is to be able to understand the psychology behind the behavior of carnists that causes vegans so much stress. To understand that “good” people can engage in harmful behavior, so that vegans don’t end up seeing other humans as the enemy and become isolated and misanthropic.

I think it’s important for vegans to understand that their emotional response to animal suffering is appropriate and not let it be pathologized. Feelings of despair, grief, rage, confusion–they are all legitimate responses to bearing witness to animal suffering.

Witnessing trauma like that–that we are powerless to change–requires a certain kind of resiliency. We can only be resilient if we are healthy–psychologically, physically and emotionally.

What is your ideal meal?
Just one?? I’m a big foodie. I’m 115 pounds and when I’m out eating, I generally eat as much as the 250-pound meat-eating men I’m with–and they’re shocked. People expect vegans to sit there poking at iceberg lettuce.

What kinds of classes do you teach at the University of Massachusetts?
I teach the “happy classes”: trauma, addiction, violence/nonviolence, and socialization.

Whoa. How do you maintain a sense of humor?
It’s dark stuff but the other side of the material is recovery. There’s light there. And I do try to integrate humor into classes. I tell jokes. Sometimes they go over well; sometimes they bomb. But it’s about trauma and recovery, just as working for animal rights is.

To learn more about Melanie, visit www.melaniejoy.org.

I was down in Battery Park earlier today and saw this very cool exhibit by PETA.

Human-size banner after banner lines the walkway on the Battery Place side of the inside of the park (across from the National Museum of the American Indian), and the content is top-notch: Analogous human and animal suffering is shown in each panel, from slavery to experimentation to mutilation to slaughter and more. There’s also an interesting collection of quotes demonstrating that the way we once justified mistreating humans sounds eerily similar to the way people justify animal use and abuse today.

Whatever you think of PETA, this is a standout exhibit. In the little time that I was there, lots of people stopped to read the panels, and you could see that they were really having an impact. I highly recommend checking it out. It’s in Columbus Circle on Monday, Union Square Tuesday and Wednesday, and Battery Park Thursday and Friday, usually from 10am to 4:30pm, depending on the weather.

It’s so nice to see all of this open-air activism going on around the city!

Galapaganean locals paint canvas shopping bags at an anti-plastic bag campaign we helped out at

From September to December 2008, the vegan conservation group Sea Shepherd waged a fight to protect the ecosystem and all the animals of the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. This blog recounts what happened in that time, serving for the group.

The post below describes one of the biggest arguments the locals had against Sea Shepherd’s involvement in Galapagos.

My goal was to make sure no more animals would have to share the fate of my poor Nikki Wolf. We’re currently working with locals to try to find a sensible way to raise funding for the building of a proper permanent clinic/hospital.

There was just one more major obstacle in the way of massive public support for the things we were trying to do.

Argument 4: Other Social Problems

This argument came up every time the issue of trying to promote animal welfare came up to an educated audience with means.

4: “Save the ecosystem?! How dare you try to help animals and the environment before solving all the human issues like education!”

Ironically, the people making this argument actually never seemed to work to help any human social issues themselves. Regardless, the perception was that we shouldn’t attempt to help the animals or creatures of the ecosystem before all the social problems of the humans are solved first. The truth, of course, is that protecting the ecosystem protects the Galapaganeans, because these islands are only worth anything to people and business if the ecosystem stays healthy. If tourists see cats and dogs decimating the ecosystem (which they’re starting to do more and more each day), or if the poachers kill the last of the sharks and dolphins, then there’s no reasons for people or businesses to come here, and the residents would have no income.

But, to take these concerns seriously, Sea Shepherd had to prove itself.

Solution 4: Education

SSCS has been planning a conservation-oriented education package, working with Galapaganean residents and local teachers to formulate it. It’s not something Sea Shepherd would ever be expected to do anywhere else in the world, but the locals must be onboard if conservation is to work here.

Much of the time, children of the Galapagos only have people’s examples to go by, when it comes to conservation. And people for the past decade here have been working on building their fortunes, bringing larger and larger ships and often letting the ecosystem take a backseat to trying to feed their families, which is understandable. The good news is that the new generation of kids growing up now are absolutely open to hearing about how their success is tied to a healthy environment.

Ambiente Independiente

As an example of this, one of the campaigns I volunteered on was by a local group called Ambiente Independiente, a group which does a lot of local environmental work. During one of their anti-plastics campaigns, they had volunteers coming from everywhere including the CDF, SSCS, WildAid, and concerned citizens. Ambiente Independiente gave a presentation on plastics and families and children all came and stayed to watch the whole thing. Teenage boys even started vying for control over paints they wanted to use to paint canvas shopping bags, so that they wouldn’t have to use plastic shopping bags anymore.

Ambiente Independiente produced a presentation and campaign against plastics that are destroying the Galapapagos.

People of all different backgrounds got together and organized among themselves to help teach their fellow Galapaganeans how to protect the islands against human interference.

Children, adolescents, and adults got into the spirit of learning and working to reduce the ecological impact of human industry.

The work of Ambiente Independiente is an example of how local concerned individuals can change a lot of important minds.

Likewise, locals are essential in getting the animal hospital/clinic off the ground. For construction logistics, methodology and policy planning, and all other aspects of getting a clinic off the ground, locals are the ones who are making the project possible.

Next week’s post will cover some of the anti-poaching effort of SSCS in this time.

The event is sponsored by Sustainable Pratt

Think we’re insufferable online? Wait til you meet us in person! We’ll be tabling at Pratt Institute’s third Annual Green Week, tomorrow, Friday April 3, 2009, from 11am to 6pm. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello.

Pratt is in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Probably best to enter the campus at Dekalb and Hall Street. (The directions section of Pratt’s website is an unlinkable abomination, sorry). It’s a really nice campus with a bunch of great outdoor sculptures and classy buildings.

Unfortunately it will probably be too cold to bring our dunking booth to the fair. Patrick and Olivia are trying to talk me into us doing a kissing booth, but I’m not sure that’s appropriate for our wholesome image. Pratt students are kinda hot, though…

Patrick will also be representing the Humane Society of the United States. Other groups/vendors tabling include Red Jacket Orchards, Siggi’s Skyr (boo!), Chewonthis.org, Bobolink Farms Dairy (boo!), the Nutbox, and Rick’s Picks.

Update: Yes, it’s raining, so we won’t be outside–the whole thing will be inside the Student Union.

Heather Mills in the Bronx on Saturday

Heather Mills has donated $1 million worth of vegan food to the Hunts Point Alliance for Children. The food will be distributed to impoverished children in Hunts Point, Bronx. Mills kicked off the donation with a vegan barbecue over the weekend, and was awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition by Congressman Jose Serrano.

Sure, it’s cynical ploy for good publicity, but if only all celebrities would rehabilitate their reputations through such vegan-friendly methods! You can’t deny the real benefit to the animals and the school children.

Grab the Tofu Pups!

Tomorrow evening, animal advocates Jasmin Singer (Farm Sanctuary) and Marisa Miller Wolfson (Kind Green Planet), the duo who bought us Veganism 101, will lead a workshop called Where the Women’s, Gay, and Animal Liberation Movements Intersect at The New School. I’ll be on the panel pushing my queer vegan anthology book project and learning from the other way more qualified speakers. Hope to see you.

(See our NYC Vegan Events Calendar for details on this event and more.)

The new channel Planet Green launched last night (channel 172 on Cablevision; not sure where it is for you other folks), and I caught a few minutes of it here and there. In partnership with Treehugger, the channel is an exciting development in green biz: the “first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network.” But as optimistic as I was about PG, I found myself wondering where it would fall on the issue of veg*nism and the environment.

Of course, the channel’s programming includes the usual suspects—lifestyles of the rich and environmental (Hollywood Green With Maria Menounos), makeover shows (Renovation Nation, WA$TED!)—and will expand to include “reality” challenges (Battleground Earth: Ludacris Vs. Tommy Lee). But as always, the real answers lie within the cooking/dining and “information” shows. And what I saw there disappointed me.

I saw only the last few minutes of Supper Club With Tom Bergeron, so I missed whether there was any meat or dairy in the pasta dish he made. But I did hear him talk about going green on his wife’s urging—risking his reputation as a successful restaurateur and not flying sole in from Dover or chicken breast in from France in an attempt to lessen his carbon footprint. Poor Tom! At least European animals are safe from you now.

I skipped the next show, G Word, since the episode appeared to be all about transforming manure into fuel (“Cow Power”). But then I caught a bit of Stuff Happens, hosted by Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and had a moment of optimism. In the show, Bill takes a look at where everything in our lives comes from and “reveals the unintended consequences of all the stuff we take for granted.” Music to my ears! Especially when he started talking about eggs. And not just any eggs: battery cage eggs! And how the chickens are crammed in so tight that they can’t move, causing their bones to collapse from disuse! (He also mentioned that “some people” feel this is a form of abuse. Quick and vague, but at least it was said.)

He then moved on to free-range eggs and why they aren’t a good choice either! (I even learned something new: that the ammonia released from such operations ends up in the oceans, pulling out the oxygen and creating dead zones where fish cannot live.) Go, Bill, go! I was on the edge of my seat now. Could Bill Nye actually be suggesting that people stop eating eggs??? Alas, no. What I forgot was that this channel focuses on environmental impact, and the green movement has yet to fully embrace the vegan ethos. And so sadly, we arrived at option #3: organic eggs, which Bill heartily endorsed as the responsible choice. Foiled again.

But then again, we came so close! Should I give PG the benefit of the doubt and hope that as its viewers become more comfortable with making other changes, the vegan message won’t be far behind? I mean, if they want to be smart and honest, PG will have to include some vegan-oriented programming at some point, won’t they? Then again, they’ve got shows like Emeril Green in the offing, so maybe my hope is misguided.

Did you catch any of Planet Green last night? What did you think?

Display at Sweet Avenue Bake Shop

• Twin Cities’ City Pages reports the FBI allegedly recruited a shaggy haired, troubled youth to infiltrate vegan potlucks in an effort to spy on potential protesters of the Republican National Convention which will be held in Minneapolis-Saint Paul this September.
• In semi-related news, Twin Cities power activist group Compassionate Action for Animals hosts Their Lives, Our Voices: Midwest Animal Advocacy Conference 2008 Friday, June 6 through Sunday, June 8 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Conference Center in Minneapolis, MN. They’ve even created a Wiki Twin Cities Veg Tourism Guide to help non-locals better enjoy their visit after conference hours.
• New Jersey’s hip factor will drastically increase on Saturday, June 21st when Sweet Avenue Bake Shop teams up with LeafyGreen.info to host Cupcakefest, a day of live music and free vegan mini-cupcakes in Lincoln Park (Rutherford, NJ).
• The Vegan Outreach newsletter recently featured Sam & Ruby’s Vegan Goodies, a small company that sells tubes of vegan cookie dough. I haven’t tried their products yet, but I’m sure they quell nostalgic yearnings for Tollhouse cookies and are delightfully salmonella-free.
• I’m not sure if the toddlers at Longmont, CO’s all-vegan preschool BellaVita eat Sam & Ruby’s, but they do eat veggies that they grow themselves.

You may be familiar with Boston-based Bexx as the creator of the awesome online restaurant guide, VeganBoston, but did you know she also makes books?

In addition to an assortment of adorable journals, sketchbooks, and albums, Bexx has created two outstanding miniature books, How I Get My Protein and How I Get My Calcium. Each illustrated, handsewn book contains a short list of vegan nutrient sources, the amount of nutrient per serving, and percentage of daily value. Also included is information on how much protein or calcium the average person needs each day and a list of resources on vegan nutrition. Bexx recommends: “The next time someone asks you ‘How do you get your protein?’, suppress the urge to strangle them by handing them this cute little book!”

Books By Bexx are sold on Etsy, Little Paper Planes, and Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe. Books by Bexx is also a member of Vegan Etsy, an etsy team made up of vegans that maintain completely vegan shops.

Through the magic of Myspace, I sent Bexx a few questions about her bookmaking business. She was kind enough to respond.

SuperVegan: What are some of the non-vegan tools/ materials used in traditional bookbinding and what do you substitute them with?
Bexx: Traditional bookbinding tools include leather, vellum, hide glue, beeswax (for waxing thread), silk, and bone folders made of real animal bone. For cover materials, I stick to cloth, decorative paper, and the occasional faux leather instead of using animal skins. I use wheat startch paste or PVA (synthetic) instead of that smelly hide glue. Instead of beeswax, I use microcrystaline wax, which is what they use for industrial sewing. To sew endbands, I use very fine linen thread instead of silk. I use a teflon or wood folder instead of one made from bone to fold my paper. Some of these materials are more expensive or harder to find, but I think the extra cost is worth it. Because all animal based materials are organic and therefore will decay over time, I think that staying away from them means my work has more archival posibilities!

How did you get started binding books?
While getting my Masters in Library Science, I began taking book repair classes, which led to some basic bookbinding workshops. I was hooked from the start. Now I’m back in school doing a full-time bookbinding program.

What inspired you to create How I get my protein and How I get my calcium?
As a vegan, I get asked these two questions CONSTANTLY. Most people really and truly believe that you cannot get enough calcium or protein from a vegetable based diet and they aren’t willing to take your word on it without some cold, hard facts. I wanted to have something to present to naysayers of the veg diet to show them that I can avoid animal products and still be healthy. These cute little books are portable, and help me to avoid getting flustered or feeling attacked.

Why did you decide to take an artisan approach to sharing this info, rather than running off a Word document at Kinko’s or posting the info on a web page?
The internet isn’t always at your fingertips. Flyers tend to get lost, thrown away, or aren’t considered trustworthy source of information. But adorable miniature books? Who can resist?

What other book and or web projects are you working on?
I make a variety of vegan books, photo ablums, and journals, all of which are for sale at www.thisisbexx.etsy.com. To complement the protein and calcium books, I am also working on a book called How I Get My Iron.

I also run a web based dining and shopping guide for the Boston area, www.veganboston.com. I’ve been neglecting it lately, but I hope to add a lot of new stores and restaurants over the summer.

What other crafts do you enjoy?
I used to sew a lot, but my sewing machine is now a very large, dusty paperweight. Books have taken over my life.

New Yorkers inspired by Bexx’s handiwork should check out Booklyn, a Greenpoint-based artists alliance that “works tirelessly to put books in the hands of the people and to encourage the people’s hands to make more books.” The nonprofit will teach you a bookmaking skill over the course of an entire month for a mere $20. The group also hosts a free open salon the first Tuesday of each month from 8 to 10pm; the next one is this week on May 6th.

Hillary Rettig

This week, New Yorkers will have two chances to catch up with Hillary Rettig, author of The Lifelong Activist and The Little Guide To Beating Procrastination, Perfectionism and Blocks, a free E-book. The Boston based life coach and activist will lead workshops at NYU and The Fourth Universalist Society headquarters.

Titled “Living a Joyful and Productive Progressive Life,” Rettig’s seminar teaches activists how to avoid burnout. It will center on what she describes as the building blocks of a happy and productive life: mission management (to figure out your authentic goals and path); time management (so you can develop a schedule that helps you focus on your goals); and fear management (so you can get past procrastination, perfectionism and blocks to success).

Tuesday, February 19, 6:30-8pm. NYU, 60 Washington Square South, Room 405. A,B,C,D,E,F,V to West 4th Street. Hosted by NYU animal rights group SEAL and Farm Sanctuary. Free, but RSVP: campaignintern1@farmsanctuary.org.

Wednesday, February 20, 7-9pm. The Fourth Universalist Society, 160 Central Park West at 76th Street. B,C to 72nd Street. $10 suggested donation.

Here’s an unconfirmed rumor we received via text message from an inside source:

Student chefs are cooking up a three or four course gourmet (mostly vegan) brunch today at Counter. The normally pricey restaurant is charging a measly $7 for the meal. The special mid-week brunch begins at 11:30AM and should go on for a couple of hours.

God, I hope it’s true!

Northwestern kicks NYU’s ass.

NYU has canceled its monthly vegan night at Hayden Dining Hall. They’ll still offer some monthly vegan options alongside their regular dining hall food; apparently they missed the part where those of us disgusted by animal cruelty tend to lose our appetites in the presence of animal corpses. Not to mention that the only reason we flocked to eat their crappy dining hall food was the novelty of being able to eat everything.

NYU’s got some kind of stupid excuse about “accomodating everyone,” as if it’s a burden for the poor omnivores to be served food that is better for their health, animals, and the environment for one night a month in one of many dining halls. According to NYU animal rights club SEAL, you can tell NYU how dumb this is, and ask them to bring back vegan night, by calling 212-995-3030 or emailing dining.services@nyu.edu .

Not surprisingly, NYU didn’t even make the list in peta2′s poll of the most vegetarian-friendly colleges. #1 was Northwestern; see the whole list here.

I just can’t find this stuff appetizing, even when it’s vegan.

It’s yet another peta2 contest! This time they want to know the most veg-friendly college. The winning school will get a big peta2-sponsored party, and those who vote will have a chance to win a prize pack full of peta2 swag.

NYU was nominated, which I can’t say impresses me too much, unless things have really changed in the three years since I graduated. I mean, sure, NYU has those monthly vegan dinners, but I couldn’t even bring myself to eat that mass-produced cafeteria stuff on a monthly basis, let alone daily.

On the plus side, the neighborhood is overflowing with vegan options… but that’s hardly to NYU’s credit.

Anyway, place your votes here.

Update 11/20/06: And they’ve announced the winners!

Dave Warwak, recent convert

Last month, art teacher Dave Warwak was fired from Fox River Grove Middle School in Illinois. A vegan since January, he was either just giving the kids some honest info about his beliefs, or else fanatically attempting to convert them to his cause.

Warwak himself says that teaching kids to appreciate life is part of teaching them to appreciate art. Hmmm, okay. He also incorporated animal rights themes into art assignments, which, given the weird shit my high school art teacher came up with, doesn’t seem too out of line. (Although someone may want to point out that the Peeps used in his animal cruelty display aren’t vegan). It is, after all, a teacher’s job to get kids to think.

But he probably didn’t win many to his side by asking the students to keep his proselytizing from their parents, accusing the school district of child endangerment for serving milk, and threatening not to return to work unless they eliminated animal products from the school menu. There’s a way to win friends and influence people, Mr. Warwak, and that’s not it.

The Jacksonville, Florida school district is reviewing the inclusion of Carolyn Mackler’s Vegan Virgin Valentine in the school library. Angry parents object to the copious use of “the f-word,” but what they should really be pissed about is the book’s ignorant use of the v-word.

When VVV‘s 17-year-old heroine Mara gets dumped, she looks for something new to obsess over besides her ex. And “veganism made sense. It’s all-consumingly obsessive.” In the end, Mara loses her virginity and her veganism, though she does remain vegetarian (no longer a “starving person”). Mackler is also the author of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, so take this vegan-as-OCD with a big round grain of salt. But while Mackler clearly misses the point, it’s nice to see a smart veg heroine in a book marketed to teen girls, where vegetarianism is about three times as popular as in the larger population. I mean, fuck.

Join the newest SuperVegan on the block, Jasmin Singer, who is a certified holistic health counselor trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and her buddy Marisa Miller, the Animal Projects Coordinator for Global Green Foundation for their workshop “Veganism 101: Personal to Global”. The talk covers “the hows and whys of being vegan, including nutrition, ethics, lifestyle, and then some” and skeptics are encouraged to attend. It’s happening at the NYU Kimmel Center tomorrow evening so if you have plans, cancel them–this is a Village Voice Choice after all.

Tuesday, Feb. 20. 7pm. NYU’s Kimmel Building, 60 Washington Square South, Room 802. Bring ID. A,C,E,B,D,F to West 4th Street.

I prefer the view from behind a monitor, but if you talk a good vegan game, you might want to apply to PCRM’s new Heart Health program. The health-conscious org is looking for a few good veggies to spread the word that a vegan diet can help prevent, treat, and reverse heart disease.

PCRM will provide the training, then send you off to talk to members of organizations like the Rotary club. To apply, you need to fill out an application and make a five-minute video of yourself giving a presentation (ideas for the chat can be found here.) Then send it all off to:

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Human Resources Department
Re: Heart Health Presentation
5100 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20016

For more information, e-mail HeartHealth@pcrm.org or call 202-686-2210.

Want to get more New Yorkers to go veg? Sponsor an info stand—you know, one of the newsracks you get The Onion out of.

There’s no fee for sponsoring a stand. Farm Sanctuary will provide its Guide to Veg Living (and the subsequent refills); all you have to do is keep the rack stocked and handle some minimal paperwork and maintenance. There are some stand placement restrictions, which you can read about here.

For more information, contact J.B. Mulcahy, Farm Sanctuary’s education coordinator, at 607-583-2225 ext. 235 or jbmulcahy@farmsanctuary.org.

Peter Singer will join other speakers at Princeton

Food, Ethics, and the Environment will be held at Princeton University on November 16 & 17. Conference topics range from locally grown and organic foods, the effects of industrial food production and global warming, to how our food choices affect animals and what universities, amongst other institutions, ought to do about it.

Panels, presentations and discussion will include speakers such as Peter Singer, Eric Schlosser, and Paul Shapiro. Registration is free, but required. If you’re from NYC, you can buy a round trip bus ticket at Port Authority for $16.60 and it will take you there in about 90 minutes. Buses leave every half hour.

Grab a friend (and some Tupperware–shh!) and load up on all the tasty vegan cafeteria food you can eat (and/or carry) at the upcoming monthly NYU Vegan Night. If a friend can’t join you, latch on to the NYC Vegan EatUp gang and make new ones.

This month’s dinner theme is Latin America. Though I’m excited about vegan empanadas and paella, I’m mostly looking forward to mainstay menu items like fiblets and neat loaf in sauce. Being surrounded by several varieties of mystery “meats” and other veganized cafeteria classics like pizza and soft-serve ice cream and will make you feel like you have entered a dreamy world where vegan is the default. Oh, the joy!

Thursday, October 19. 4:30-8pm. $9.34. Hayden Dining Hall, 33 Washington Square West (between Waverly Place and West 4th Street). A/C/E and B/D/F/V trains to West 4th Street.